The blog offers a breezy invite to my hometown and my birthplace. In this blog, you will learn the story of the place where I have been raised and molded into the man that I am today. Prepare as well your backpack as we embark on a never-ending journey to some of the world’s most exciting destinations – places around the world I wanted to visit. ENJOY READING MY BLOG!
Wednesday, May 25, 2016
The Tree of Salay
There is a tree of Salay or Salai (Boswellia serrata) in Santa Barbara. The Americans were then building and laying the tracks or railway of a train that will reach Capiz province. They reached and came to the place where the tree of Salay stands. Due to unknown and unexplained cause, a lot of the workers died while building the railway in this place. Shortly after, the chief contractor dreamed of a beautiful lady who told him to discontinue their work and the cutting off the tree of Salay. The said tree of Salay is a hindrance to the construction of the rail track. The American said he is ready to buy the site and land. The mysterious lady responded that even all the wealth and riches of America could not compensate the value of the land. She further added that they have a lot of ships in that area. She warned the chief engineer that all of his workers will die if he continued with his plan on Salay tree. On this omen, the engineer decided to change the route of the railway. Since then, no one of his workers had died.
Photo Source:
http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-metroplus/all-the-leaves-brown/article4088976.ece
Labels/Tags:
Folk Literature,
Folk Tales,
Ilonggo Literature,
Mythical Folklore,
Santa Barbara
Location:
Santa Barbara, Iloilo, Philippines
Tuesday, May 24, 2016
Lolo Jose and the Kapre
Lolo Jose is living in Barrio Tacay, a barrio of Buenavista. One night which was a full moon then, when he thought of strolling in the nearby river. In his strolling, he passed by a barn or warehouse which was filled by sacks of lime. When he was nearing it, he saw something like an ember or a pyre from the roof. When he looked up at it, he saw a very tall and very dark man sitting on it smoking a tobacco. It has a huge head and very dark skinned. Due to extreme fear, Lolo Jose was petrified and cannot move from where he stand. He instantly had goosebumps and hair raising fearing he might get killed. He attempted to shout but no sound came out of his mouth. He passed out and when he regained his consciousness the kapre was gone. He went home hurriedly and told his wife and children his experience.
Photo Source:
https://www.bagoh2.deviantart.com
Labels/Tags:
Folk Literature,
Folk Tales,
Ilonggo Literature,
Kapre,
Mythical Creatures,
Mythical Folklore
Location:
Buenavista, Guimaras, Philippines
Monday, May 23, 2016
KAPRE
Is it true kapre exists?
In a barrio in Tigbauan there are still a lot of people who remembers Lolo (Grandpa) Tisyo to what happened to him when he was still a young man. This is what he told:
One evening, he arrived gasping for breath and his facial expression appears visibly shaken and terrified. He was asked why he was acting that way. Everyone were surprised when he said he saw a kapre. He was going home that night when he saw that the sampaloc tree seems like a smoldering ember. He came closer a little bit and was surprised when all of a sudden an object he thought was an ember fell. Due to his surprise and wonder, he enlightened it with his flashlight. He was surprised to see a very big foot of a human and when he looked up he realized a giant man was in front of him sitting while smoking a tobacco under the Sampaloc tree. “Kapreeee,” he shouted and he scampered away. Since then he never wanders around at night.
Photo Source:
http://warriorsofmyth.wikia.com/wiki/File:Kapre-g5f3d-9j6.jpg
Labels/Tags:
Folk Literature,
Folk Tales,
Ilonggo Literature,
Kapre,
Mythical Creatures,
Mythical Folklore,
Tigbauan
Location:
Tigbauan, Iloilo, Philippines
Sunday, May 22, 2016
The Mantiw and the Manghaharana
Mantiw has a resemblance with the Kapre.
Long time ago, there is a young man a musician or guitarist who likes to serenade while playing the guitar even if it’s in the depth of the night or midnight. He was told by his parents not to spend the midnight or deepest nights serenading (from the root word “harana”) because he might encounter the wandering mantiw and bring him to the farthest. But these pieces of advice of his parents was received with cold shoulders.
One night at around 11 o’clock he sat down at the stairs of the house of his suitor while plucking the strings of his guitar. A very tall man (seems like a giant) came close to him, carried him and put him sitting on his broad shoulders. In the great shock of the young man he hold his guitar tight and with all strength he played the guitar until his fear and nervousness is gone. The guitar which is near the ear of the mantiw (giant) created much noise. The mantiw thought what kind of man he is carrying. The mantiw got scared and put the one he carried on his shoulder at the top of a buri. When the morning comes, the parents of the young man were surprised and looked for him because he never returned home. A lot of people were looking for him.
When the fear of the young man is gone, he asked for help. Two long stairs were used for him to go down. He learned his lessons well. Since then he doesn’t went out and return home late at night in serenading.
*Mantiw is an ogre
Photo Source:
http://flashfictionworld.blogspot.com/
Labels/Tags:
Folk Literature,
Folk Tales,
Ilonggo Literature,
Kapre,
Mantiw,
Mythical Creatures,
Mythical Folklore
Location:
Dumarao, Capiz, Philippines
Saturday, May 21, 2016
A Piece of Liver
It was a full moon then, the siblings Lourdes, Sinang, Miting and Dadong were happily playing at the porch of their house when all of a sudden, a tiktik passed by. Since Lourdes is the youngest and the naughtiest among the siblings suddenly shouts, “Give us some pieces of something for skewers!” After that, they run inside the house. Lourdes was reprimanded by their mother. After sometime, the tiktik came back and dropped something in the porch. The mother went out to check what the dropped object is. Her eyes went bigger in surprise when it appeared to her a piece of liver of a human!
Labels/Tags:
Folk Literature,
Folk Tales,
Ilonggo Literature,
Mythical Creatures,
Mythical Folklore
Location:
Sara, Iloilo, Philippines
Friday, May 20, 2016
The Aswang Bird
According to the stories of the elders, there is a woman living in the town. One day, while the woman is planting some vegetables a big bird came close to her suddenly. She whacked the big bird with a bolo or a sharp bladed weapon but unfortunately, it was not hit and unharmed. After this, she was wrestled by the big bird. The powerless woman can’t do anything because the big bird is so strong and powerful that she could not even move or shout. After a few days, the woman was found dead. Her stomach was cut open wrecked and her liver is gone. The big bird was actually an aswang.
Photo Source:
https://www.anthonyfrancisco.com
Labels/Tags:
Balasan,
Folk Literature,
Folk Tales,
Ilonggo Literature,
Mythical Creatures,
Mythical Folklore
Location:
Balasan, 5018, Philippines
Thursday, May 19, 2016
Saved Thread-Thin by the Last Minute
In a town lived Gimo who is rumored by the people as the aswang. One night in a gathering, a teacher was invited by the daughter of Gimo to spend the night in their house. The teacher agreed because there were no transportation to ride home. They were already lying in bed when the teacher overheard someone having a conversation. It was almost dawn then. She had doubts about what they are talking about and arguments and tried to understand it. She was never wrong with her intuition. A man ordered another person that when the water boils they will go upstairs in the house. To distinguish it from his daughters, they will look for the distinguishing marks of the teacher which is the earrings and the ring. The teacher was overwhelmed with extreme shock but she tried to compose herself and tried to find ways in this tough situation. She slowly and silently returns back to her bedroom, remove her jewelries and put carefully to one of the daughters of Gimo. She gets a patadyong to cover her face and went downstairs. She felt more shock and surprise when she saw a cauldron full of boiling water. She became more tense and have more goosebumps when she was sighted by Gimo and asked why she was downstairs. Fortunately, she was able to reason out immediately. When she was able to shelter or hid away from the men, she run as fast she could away from that place. Meanwhile, Gimo went upstairs and chosen his victim. He hacked the one he touches with jewelry and brought it down. In his clumsiness he realized that the one he hit was his daughter. They immediately chased and went after the escaped teacher who already reached the house of a judge. The lady is narrating her ordeal when Gimo arrived. Gimo accused the teacher of stabbing her daughter but the judge never believed it. The daughter of Gimo was not dead. There are some statements claiming that the daughter of Gimo is putting a bandana on her neck to hide the scar caused by the wound on her neck.
Labels/Tags:
Dueñas,
Folk Literature,
Folk Tales,
Ilonggo Literature,
Mythical Creatures,
Mythical Folklore
Location:
Dueñas, Iloilo, Philippines
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